


The Heart Asks Pleasure First

by soprano_buddy15



Series: Peace After Battle [5]
Category: The Last Kingdom, The Last Kingdom (TV), The Warrior Chronicles | The Saxon Stories - Bernard Cornwell
Genre: Consensual Sex, Eadith is a queen, F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I don't think it's explicit?, Post Season 4, Sexual Content, Soft Finan, Spoilers for Season 4, consent is sexy ya'll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:55:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24532678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soprano_buddy15/pseuds/soprano_buddy15
Summary: SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4During the Winter Solstice, Eadith and Finan wait out a winter storm together.
Relationships: Eadith/Finan (The Last Kingdom)
Series: Peace After Battle [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736485
Comments: 20
Kudos: 71





	The Heart Asks Pleasure First

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Java_Blythe_Peralta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Java_Blythe_Peralta/gifts).



> Hello everyone!
> 
> So I was working on a totally different work when I heard the song that this work gets its title from. It is by Michael Nyman, and I was immediately inspired to write about Finan and Eadith because, well, they are the best. 
> 
> This work is dedicated to my incredible friend, Java_Blythe_Peralta, who is almost more of a FinanxEadith fan than I am, and her patient replies to my many text messages about how I have never written something close to this before and always telling me how excited she was to read it. I love you so, so much. 
> 
> Also, big shout out to Google Translate, and also a warning to take everything with a grain of salt because I don't know anybody who speaks Irish.  
> Constructive comments are always welcome! Just don’t be mean, because nobody wants that.

The wind howled like Eadith had never heard before. 

It blew through her shutters, the whistling clear and high. She nervously stoked the fire, trying to build up the warmth in her small house. Its small size had never been a problem for her, but she worried that it would be too big a space for her humble hearth to heat in this cold. Shivering, she drew her cloak tighter around her, and nervously glanced at her dwindling log pile as she placed candles around the room, trying to keep the growing dark at bay. She had never been alone for the solstice before, and it left her with an empty feeling. 

She _knew_ she should have gone out earlier in the day when the wind had started picking up. She had been meaning to go and split the wood herself, but Aethelstan had asked her instead to read with him. She supposed she would have to go out now; there was no way she would last the night with three logs left. Sighing, she went to grab the furs that Sihtric had graciously gifted to her after he had come across a wolf in his monthly escapade to the woods for new herbs and barks. He had skinned and dried it, and refused payment for his work when she had protested the expensive gift. “You deserve it,” he had said, and Eadith had swallowed back tears at the kindness of Sihtric and his wife. 

Her bed was up in her loft, and as she climbed the steps, she knew that she would need to sleep downstairs that night. The previous occupant of her house had not built it well, and she had made plans with Finan and Sihtric to rebuild the the sides and lay fresh straw on the roof, but the snow had come sooner than they expected and it had to be put off until the spring thaw. Sighing again, she pulled her furs and blankets off of her lumpy bed and tossed them down to the main room.

After shrugging her grey fur over her cloak and tying up her hood, she took a deep breath and prepared herself to head out into the windy night. 

“Finan!” She shrieked as she opened the door and saw the Irishman was standing just outside. His beard was frosty around his mouth, and his arms were full of freshly split logs. Snow was dusting his hair. “You frightened me!” She quickly ushered him into the house and shut the door behind him, the wind quieting just a bit.

“Forgive me, Eadith,” he said, shaking out his hair. Clumps of snow fell to the floor and on his shoulders. He lifted up the logs in his arms. “I thought you might need some more.”

“I was just about to go and split some myself, actually,” she admitted, and showed him where he could place them. 

Finan shot her a look as he removed his gloves and warmed them over the bright fire. “You are not splitting wood in this weather, and especially on the winter solstice,” he said firmly. “I could hardly find my way from Uhtred’s hall to your house. The wind blew out all of the torches.”

She scooped some mulled wine she had been making out of her pot and into a mug for Finan to warm his hands with. “Thank you, Finan. It was very kind of you.” Pouring some for herself, she sat down beside him at her small table. “Is Aethelstan with you tonight?”

Finan chuckled and took a sip. “No, Young Sihtric has been following me around all week trying to let Aethelstan stay with them tonight. Sihtric makes a point to tell his kids stories about his gods, and they stay up late and eat a special bread that Ealhswith makes.”

“Is this bread any good?”

“If I was Aethelstan’s age, you can bet that I would be there in a heartbeat. Just for the food. Sihtric better be giving thanks to his gods everyday about Ealhswith’s cooking, for she has most certainly been blessed.”

Eadith chuckled at the expression on Finan’s face as he was clearly remembering the taste of the bread. She loved how much these men loved each other. They truly had a brotherhood, and she was permanently indebted to them for how welcoming they had been towards her. 

She was so used being seen as an object, as an extra weight, only useful when men determined she could do something. It had been incredibly powerful, choosing on her own free will to infiltrate Winchester. The protesting from Finan and Uhtred had not been about whether or not she could do it, but rather about her own safety and wellbeing. Eadith could not remember a time when she had been treated so kindly by men. 

She flushed as they sat in silence, sipping at their wine as somehow the wind grew greater. The candles were burning low, and Eadith tossed another log onto the fire, sneaking glances at Finan. Heaven’s knew that she admired him, stomach clenching at the adorable tufts of hair poking up from his head from the wet snow. Just as he ran a hand through his mess of hair again, a gust of wind made the shutters snap against the wooden window frame, and Eadith jumped at the sound.

“I should, um, maybe go.” Finan coughed as he set down his empty mug. “Before the storm gets any worse.” His face was flushing slightly, and Eadith could not tell whether it was from the wine or the heat of the fire.

The wind continued to howl, and just as Finan moved to open the door, Eadith stood suddenly. “Stay,” she blurted out, and then cursed her impulsive tongue as he froze. “I- I do not want to find you tomorrow morning frozen solid,” she tried for a joke, but it fell flat as he turned to face her. “And besides, Aethelstan is with Sihtric. You’d be going home to a cold house. Unless you don’t want to, of course.” Flushing as she realized she was rambling, she wrung her hands together and stared at the ground. 

“Okay.”

Hardly daring to believe her ears, Eadith glanced up sharply and met Finan’s gaze. Eadith prided herself on being able to look at people and know them, but Finan’s dark eyes were unreadable as he pulled the gloves off of his hands again. 

Finan had very slim fingers, Eadith noticed, but they were strong as he undid the golden clasp of his cloak. “I can take that,” she said, and reached out to take the cloak from him. She gasped as she brushed his fingers with hers, and she could see Finan swallowing hard. 

Heat pooling in her stomach, she turned her back on him and squeezed her eyes shut. She knew that she harboured certain… _feelings_ , for Finan, but she also knew that many of the young women in Coccham also chased him around and he had never returned their affections. At least, as far as she could tell.

Besides, she told herself, if Finan felt for her the way she felt for him, then were was the lustful desire? Every man she had been around had used her for their own wants and gains, and it had been very clear that Finan and the others had appreciated her for her willingness to help them through the lens of friendship. 

“Eadith!” She jumped again and flung around as Finan came up behind her. He had taken off his under-layer of furs and draped them over on of the chairs. It was obvious he had been saying her name many times. “You are quite jumpy tonight,” he said softly, raising an eyebrow, and she forced herself to laugh even though it made her heart clench. _Damn that eyebrow._ “I’ve just never been in such a storm,” she admitted, fibbing only slightly. 

Finan took a hesitant step closer to her. She could see herself in the reflection of his dark eyes and her breath became shallow. “Eadith…” he whispered, and she felt herself melt at the sound of her name on his lips.

“Yes?” She responded, rather breathlessly.

“I cannot help but want to kiss you.”

Her brain a million miles away, she nodded in agreement. 

Her hands dropped his cloak as he gently cupped her jaw in his hands, his kiss the softest she had ever experienced in her life. His beard was not as scratchy as she had imagined it would be, but his hair was just as soft as she expected. She reached up to clasp her hands around his neck, her fingers playing with the beads that were braided into his hair. 

Finan inhaled sharply as she began to return the kiss, and she felt him grab her waist pull her closer towards him. He parted her mouth with his own, deepening the kiss, and she pulled his head down. 

She knew from somewhere, that if she did not surface for air, she would surely drown in the ocean that was Finan. Breaking the kiss, she dropped down from the tips of her toes and rested her head against Finan’s broad chest. 

“Was that alright?”

The expression on her face must have been a good one, as Finan grinned once she looked up at him, astonished he could even ask such a question. “I was not sure if you returned my feelings,” she admitted, and somehow even more heat made its way up her neck and cheeks. 

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I have never admired someone more, _stór mo chroí,_ ” and Eadith’s breath hitched. 

_I have never admired someone more._ The words rung through her head as she hurriedly unclasped her cloak buckle, fingers fumbling on the hook. Finan brought both hands up to her face as he brought his mouth down upon hers again. Hooking her arms around his strong neck again, he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling his muscles move underneath her as he carried her to the pile of furs she had thrown down from her loft a million years ago. 

He set her down, carefully, gently, and with a tenderness that surprised Eadith. Finan was a warrior, who worked hard to serve his Lord and protect those around him. Yet his calloused fingers were incredibly soft as he ran his hand up her side. 

She moaned as he kissed her along her jaw and down her neck, shuddering as he peppered small kisses along her collarbone. 

Eadith grabbed Finan’s shoulders and rolled them over so that he was now underneath her and she was sitting on his lap. Giggling at the confused (and perhaps slightly offended) expression on his face, Eadith let him sit up as she grabbed the bottom of his green tunic, but hesitated before she lifted it up. 

Finan placed his hands over hers, but his eyes never left her face. “Only if you want,” he said quietly. 

Good Lord, Finan was frightfully intuitive. She had never been with a man on her own terms before, and the idea of it terrified her. 

But, this was _Finan_. The man who had chopped and brought her firewood because he did not want her going out in the storm. The man who had _thrown down_ his weapons in the middle of a battle to pick her up from ground. “I do,” she said, and realized that his love for her had been there all along. “I do.”

Slowly, but still with the same fiery passion as before, Finan helped her lift his tunic over his head and he tossed it to the side. She hesitantly brought her hands up to his chest, feeling every scar as she moved her hands over the grooves and dips of his muscles. His arms were just as scarred, the raised and unclean edges showing where infection had been. She placed her hands against is stomach, and felt Finan’s breath hitch as the muscles clenched. “You make me mad, Eadith,” he admitted with a bashful smile. 

She leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Good.” She said, and smiled when a laugh escaped from him. Heart pounding, she helped direct his hands to the ties on her dress, and he gently pulled the sleeves from her shoulders as she untied his breeches. As her dress fell down, she swallowed as Finan looked at her. “ _Stór mo chroí,_ ” he said again, and the uncertainty she had been feeling disappeared like a breath on the wind when he pulled her close to him. 

Somehow she ended up on her back again, and helped Finan pull her dress the rest of her way down her legs before helping him with his breeches. She had never been so close to another person before, and it made her heart nearly burst as Finan moved his body over hers. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that love could be as great as this. Everything before this had been brutal and unwanted by her, the judgement of others making her feel a guilt that she was never sure she needed to feel. 

What she was experiencing with Finan was so much more than she could ever expected. She understood what it meant to be intimate, to love someone so much that they shared their souls. His concern for her comfort was always on his lips, asking if she was okay. And every time, she would nod and let him hold her. His warmth surrounded her as the candles burned low in the dark winter night, and the wind howled as they bared their souls to each other.

****

Eadith strongly believed she could get used to Finan kissing her awake. 

It was still dark outside, and the candles had burnt out, leaving the only light source coming from the embers of the hearth. “Good morning,” she yawned, curling into Finan’s chest has he wrapped his arms and some more furs around her. 

“A very good morning,” he teased, and she hit him playfully. He gently caressed her head, playing with her long hair. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I ever have,” she said truthfully. The memories of the night rose in her mind, but she did not flush at the thought of the two of them together. “It was more than I ever knew.”

“Hm?” Finan drew back, confusion on his face as he looked at her. 

Eadith bit her lip and sat up, Finan sitting up with her. “I mean,” she began. “Every man I had laid with before had never, ever, made me feel the way you did last night.” Now was when she flushed, and examined her hands before continuing. “Finan, you make my heart burst.”

Finan grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips. “ _Stór mo chroí,_ ” he whispered, kissing them.

Eadith settled herself on Finan’s lap, bringing his hands to her waist. “What does that mean?” She asked, pulling him close. “You’ve said it many times now.”

He leaned forward and tenderly placed a kiss just over her left breast, right above her heart. “It is from my country,” he said. “ _Stór mo chroí._ ‘Treasure of my heart.’”

Eadith swallowed heavily as a tear formed in her eye and fell slowly down her cheek. As Finan gently brushed it away with the pad of his thumb, she knew that he understood what her tears were for. They were for a man whose heart beat for her, who loved her, and cherished her. They were for a love she never realized she could have.

She leaned her forehead against his, saying everything she could never speak aloud to him. Finan gently reached up to cup his hands around her face, kissing her with all of the softness of a breath, and closed her eyes as he loved her.


End file.
